


Finding a Way

by gaylie



Series: There's no Path [2]
Category: Underfell - Fandom, Undertale (Video Game), underswap
Genre: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Depression, M/M, Not Beta Read, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Polyamory, Rape Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-08-29 03:18:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8473399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaylie/pseuds/gaylie
Summary: After abandoning his brother, life for Red should've been a one-way street to getting better.But when are things ever that easy?In which Red tries to get accustomed to living with the Swapbros and Boss not so much tries to get accustomed to living without Red. This Fanfiction is a direct sequel to There's No Path





	1. wow what a fucking jackpot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YEAAA SO GUESS WHO DECIDED FOR PATH 1  
> I actually counted notes and had like a TAD more for path 2, but personally just preferred 1 in the end, so that's that  
> wowie, lookit me, i'm literally the crazy cat lady but with fics. anyway. so the good thing is i was brainstorming in school today and actually got a handful of things i know i want to add in this fic, just gotta, haha, Find a Way on where and how to put them all in  
> so yea  
> i could tag it for all of the stuff already for warnings, but that would be too much of a spoiler i think, so imma tag it as the fic progresses

It was Blueberries’ birthday in a week. It had been around two months since Red had decided to stay with them and things were going... slow. Red had to admit, he hadn't done a lot of anything. The first few weeks he had spent just trying to adjust to the thought of being here, _staying_ here, away from boss. He still was adjusting, if he was being honest, but he didn’t break down crying almost every day anymore. He didn’t spend days lying in bed and doing nothing else anymore. Didn’t try to lock himself up in the workshop to be just alone for days. It had been rough on him, but no one had really expected that it wouldn’t be. And eventually things just got… fine. They weren’t good yet. Red still didn’t feel up to moving more often than not, and he spent nights sleepless, wondering how boss was doing, if he was ever going to see them again. But they were _fine_ , because with Blue’s and Papyrus’ support he would manage to get himself out of bed eventually, would manage to get something to eat, would manage to maybe even have a good time playing card games with the brothers or watching TV. Things weren’t awful anymore, they just weren’t entirely peachy.

It was Blueberries’ birthday in a week, and it also was Red’s. But no one had asked Red about it and he just figured that they sort of forgot. It would make sense that Blue and him shared a birthday, considering they’re the same person in a way, but it would also make sense that it just wouldn’t strike their mind, considering Blue had  _always_ been here. He was the native one, Red was just sort of an intruder. Besides, Red had never been big on birthdays. He’s celebrated one or two when he was younger, but parties didn’t end well when you’re a young teenager living in the fucking apocalypse.  Besides, he didn’t want to intrude on Blue’s special day.

P apyrus was planning a surprise party, together with Undyne and Alphys. Red helped a bit too. Actually, he was mostly planning it with Alphys, while Undyne and Red sort of stuck to themselves, pretending to be helpful.

They had invited some of the locals, the monster kid Suzy and some of the Rabbit Unit  of the Royal Guard. It was going to be full and Red wasn’t sure how fine he was with that, but Papyrus had promised him that if he didn’t feel up to it he could hide in the workshop or their room. No one was going to judge him, he’d said. They’d understand, he’d said. Red, of course, still felt like they were going to judge him if he did, but the idea still was a preferable option in his mind.

Either way, he was going to have to get a present for Blue. He’d searched through the only store in Snowdin a bit, finding nothing too useful or good. Besides, Red remembered he was low on money anyway. It wasn’t like he had to pay rent or anything anymore, the brothers were practically babying him, but he’s also only come to the universe with the bit of gold he’s had when he first landed here. He didn’t have a job or any other way to make money, so unless he wanted to borrow some from Papyrus he could probably not buy something for Blue.

Which was how he had ended up at the garbage place. Papyrus had actually joined him to that trip, saying that two pair of eyes were faster than one. Paps already had a present at hand of course, but he didn’t mind helping Red trying to find something good.

Unfortunately for them the place was filled with… well, garbage. Most books they found were either torn or soggy or covered in something that may or may not have been vomit or just plain boring. Red found a weapon he thought seemed really fucking rad and since Blue was training to be part of the Royal Guard he thought he might like it, but Papyrus told him that the day he’d let Blueberry get  _another_ flamethrower was the day he’d dust.

There were a few shirts and shorts Red thought Blue might actually like, although they were all sort of torn up. But maybe he could tell him that’s just part of the fashion, or fix them up. It didn’t seem like the best idea, but Red gathered them up anyway, keeping them at least as some sort of Plan B.  
“hey, check it,” Papyrus eventually said, calling Red over. The smaller skeleton turned to where his voice came from, speed walking towards Papyrus.

“what’cha got?” He asked, staring at the white rectangle Papyrus was holding up.

“it’s a wii. console from the surface world, undyne actually told me ‘bout it. she said it’s probably the worst console you could get.”  
“wow what a fucking jackpot,” Red drawled sarcastically. “dude, you know blue doesn’t like video games anyway.”  
“who said it’s for sans.”  
“papyrus!”  
Papyrus laughed, swinging an arm around Red. “just fuckin’ with ya. i think he’d like it. it’s so bad ‘cause you actually gotta move. here, look.” He picked up what Red recognized as the case of a Wii game. He couldn’t quite make out the title anymore, but the little logo in the corner that said Wii.

“pretty sure that thing says something something sports or so. anyway some fitness stuff, i bet he’d like it. you can do yoga on it and stuff.”  
Wordlessly Red took the game case from Papyrus hands, staring down at the faded out cover thoughtfully. It actually _did_ say something something sports. Well, not ‘something something’ but, you know. Something something.

A movement based console actually sounded like fun. For Blue, that is. Red preferred not to move if he was already playing video games, but Blue was strictly against that. In fact, despite the fact that there were a couple of consoles created by underground brands, as well as a few rare ones found and fixed up from the human world, Blue didn’t allow them to own a console in their house, saying Red and Papyrus  _already_ were too lazy. He’d probably let this one slide, if what Papyrus has said was true. Besides, Blue doing yoga? He couldn’t even  _begin_ to imagine that. Not saying that he was fat, but you couldn’t deny that the Blueberry was sort of chubby. Could he even touch his toes? God, he had to see that.  
“red?” Papyrus asked, shaking the skeleton a little. He hadn’t realized he was spacing out.

“sorry, was trying to picture blue doing yoga,” Red muttered surprised, almost jumping a little when the other burst out laughing. “jesus christ! is it _that_ funny?”  
“you looked like you were trying to find the way out of the underground! i thought i accidentally triggered something and you were thinking about _blue doing yoga._ ”

“so what!” Red countered, but he was snickering a little too, now. He hadn’t realized how deeply focused he must’ve looked while spacing out. “you don’t always get to see your double doing yoga.”  
“so you gonna give it to him?” Papyrus asked, already beginning to pick the few video games scattered around the thrown away console.

“yea, i think so. it looks beaten up, though, i don’t think it’ll work.”  
“you think you can fix it?”  
Red shrugged, but he had picked up the console, trying to figure out where he’d have to open it. “might as well try,” he said.

 

Fixing the Wii turned out to be about a fuckton of times easier than fixing a machine that traveled through different universes. Which didn’t mean, of course, he finished it within minutes, god no. He’s spent alone two days reverse engineering it, before putting it back together with fixed, replaced and, most importantly, not dripping wet parts. What took the longest, though, was trying to find all the other parts the console required. Several cables, the remotes, according to the manual of Wii Fit Plus he apparently even needed a balancing board. He was lucky enough to find out that whoever threw away that Wii apparently also threw away of other junk from it. And one day Papyrus came back carrying a bag filled with parts and pieces Undyne had apparently gathered over the time for the Wii. He’d told him Undyne would collect anything that might get useful at some point, stashing them away in an unused room in her lab.

Together with what Red found at the garbage place and what he’d gotten from Undyne he actually managed to fix up the Wii, get all the cables he needed to set it up and adjusted them to the usage of Core Power instead of surface electricity, got five remotes and three nunchucks, a balancing board and a steering wheel thing to put the remote in.

The hardest part was, probably, trying to adjust the cables to Core Power as well as trying to find a way to power the remotes with it, but eventually managed to figure out a way. In fact, three hours into sketching up some ideas, Papyrus had come up and told him that they already had Core Powered surface-battery replacements. So that settled that. He still had to work on the cables, but eventually managed that, too.

Him and Papyrus had collected a good amount of games, but only a handful of them still worked. Lucky for  _them_ Wii Fit and Something Something Sports, wh ich turned out to be Wii Sports Resort, were two of the ones that worked.

Honestly, Papyrus was probably more excited about finally having a console in the house than anything else. He’d searched everywhere at the garbage place to find a couple of games  _he’d_ like, including Mario Kart,  Calvin Tucker's Redneck Jamboree, Catz and Action Girlz Racing. Red hadn’t really looked too much into the games himself, but it wasn’t really like he knew anything about them anyways. The only times he’s played video games were the rare times he was with Papyrus at Undynes lab and he had made him play Shadow The Hedgehog on the Xbox, saying that game was practically made for him.

H e wouldn’t admit it, but he liked that Shadow character.


	2. you cant watch human porn thats illegal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im writing so fast rn bc theres one part around 2 more chapters in that i rly wanna get to

It was Red’s job to distract Blue while Papyrus was setting everything up for the party. He hadn’t liked the idea of having to interact with a person alone while trying not to make them find out he was planning something. All those things didn’t work well with his anxiety, but he had preferred that over having to deal with setting everything up for the party, especially considering that meant being around a lot of people. And Blue was fine.

Things weren’t as tense and awkward between them as they once had been. They weren’t, well,  _perfect,_ but usually Red wouldn’t slip up and call him boss anymore. And Blue wasn’t walking on eggshells around him anymore, at least not as much. He didn’t seem to beat himself up about what had distanced them so much months ago, and things were just. Okay.

In fact, Red found himself liking being around Blueberry. He was loud and affectionate, which could be scary at times, but he was also so understanding. So accepting. If Red messed up he wouldn’t mind, wouldn’t point it out. More often than not he pretended to have not even noticed it in an attempt to make Red feel less embarrassed, which it did a lot. All in all, it was just nice being around him sometimes.

“SO WHERE ARE YOU DRAGGING ME TO?” Blue asked, his voice containing absolutely no suspicion whatsoever, yet a wave of anxiety shot into Red.

“dragging? i’m not dragging you, heh, you could go home any moment you’d want to,” he blabbered, trying very badly to not sound like he was trying to keep Blue out of the house.

“I COULD, COULDN’T I?” Blue mused, still walking alongside Red. “I PREFER WALKING WITH YOU, THOUGH. ARE WE GOING ANYWHERE SPECIFIC?”  
“just takin’ a walk,” Red admitted with a shrug he hoped looked casual. “i thought i needed to… get out a bit.”  
“YOU DO!!!” The other agreed quickly, and Red had to suppress himself from letting out a relieved sigh. He seemed to have no idea at all. “HONESTLY, PAPYRUS IS RUBBING UP SO MUCH ON YOU! YOU’RE BOYFRIENDS, YOU SHOULD HELP EACH OTHER GET BETTER, NOT GET _LAZIER_!”  
Red snorted at the statement, but flushed a little. He was still getting used to the… _boyfriend_ thing. Obviously after Papyrus confessing his love for probably twenty times the day before Red tried to leave, and then Red deciding to stay with them after all, there was nothing really in the way of them dating. So they just… did. And it wasn’t really all that special. Papyrus had assured him they could go as slow as possible, although they sort of had engaged in sexual acts already anyway, so there wasn’t much to go slow with anymore. But Papyrus didn’t pressure him to say the L-word anytime soon. And after realizing how uncomfortable it made Red eventually, he had laid back on using it so much, too. So things where sort of just how they’d been before, except Blue kept wiggling his bonebrows at them, winking of making not-so-subtle innuendos.

S till, it was nice to know that him and Papyrus were a thing. An actual  _thing_ , that was consensual, too.

“we’re gettin’ better,” Red told him with a small grin. “better at nappin’. pap’s record is at ten hours now.”  
“THAT’S ALMOST HALF THE DAY!!!” Blue screeched appalled.  
“yea i know right. told him that’s already a full-nights-sleep, but he said it doesn’t count ‘cause he fell asleep at midday.”

“THAT’S NOT AT ALL WHAT I WAS GETTING AT!!!” His double grunted disapprovingly, but dropped the topic after that.

Red didn’t really have any destination or anything in mind to bring Blue to, so they were just aimlessly walking towards the edge of Snowdin town, entering the light forest. It was nice in Snowdin, Red had to admit. It was, with Waterfall, probably one of the prettiest places around the underground. He’s never really had the time to actually appreciate that, back in his universe. But back there, Snowdin also wasn’t as beautiful. The snow wasn’t as bright and sparkly in the light, it was dirty, mixed with blood and dust. So much dust, and it was so hard to tell apart what was snow and what was the remains of a dead monster. The thought was sickening, haunting even at times.

There hadn’t been any funerals back in his universe. Papyrus had told him at some point that when a monster died here, their dust would be spread across the thing they loved the most. Clothing articles were the standard, sometimes items or furniture. Sometimes they even spread it across their favorite place, like the lakes in Waterfall.

‘what if their favorite thing is a monster, though?’ Red had asked at some point.

‘of course their favorite thing’ll be a monster,’ Papyrus had replied. ‘no ones selfish enough to prefer objects over their loved ones.’  
But spreading dust over a person was just… sick? It would just be more painful than helpful. No one wanted the dust of their dead loved on on themselves.

He wondered, though. If he’d die, would they spread his dust on something? Probably is jacket, Red realized. He still owned the same jacket as the one he came with in, and still wore it most of the time. Papyrus had actually bought him a different one at some point, and he had to admit he’d hit his style pretty good, but Red just still preferred his old one.

That’d be so cliche, though, and he wished there’d be something else. Something more important. Something like… his collar.

Oh, but that was gone, wasn’t it? Gone for good, because he’d torn it off and tossed it away. He had a good reason to, of course. He didn’t need it anymore, _shouldn’t_ need it anymore. He didn’t belong to boss. He had no obligation towards his brother anymore, so the collar would just be a lie, fake, unnecessary.

Red almost jolted up when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, pulling him back to reality. His eyelights flickered to light again, staring right at Blueberry, who’s hand jerked off his shoulder again startled. Red’s one hands were hovering in front of his neck.

“i-i...”  
“IT’S OKAY SANS,” Blue told him, gently taking Red’s hands in his as he lead them back down. “YOU NEED TIME TO ADJUST. IT’S OKAY.” Red was shaking a little, only a little, but enough to make Blue pull him in close into a hug, wrapping one arm around his double. “IT’S OKAY.”  
“i-it’s been _two_ months…,” Red muttered, suppressing the thickness in his throat. “i shouldn’t… sh-shouldn’t still...”  
“TWO MONTHS AREN’T LONG AT ALL,” Blue reminded him, rubbing gentle circles along Red’s back. “IT HAS TO BE TOUGH, SANS. WE UNDERSTAND, WE REALLY DO. IT’S ALL GOING TO BE FINE.”  
Red nodded weakly, still holding onto Blue a little longer for comfort, before eventually pushing himself off him again. He laughed awkwardly, wiping away tears that weren’t there yet.

“heh, uh… sorry ‘bout that. that was… weird.”  
“IT’S NO PROBLEM.”  
“’dunno at all what caused it… uhm-”

Before he could make the situation even more uncomfortable and awkward Red noticed the vibrating of his phone in his pocket. He quickly took it out to see the text Papyrus’ sent him.

 

weed daddy: you cant watch human porn thats illegal

weed daddy: i didnt mean to send you that

red: you totally did asshole

 

“WHO ARE YOU TEXTING?” Blue asked curiously, causing Red to look up. A little embarrassed he put the phone away again, still keeping his hand on it, though.

“uh, just paps.” He admitted, feeling a little like some rude asshole as he glanced right back to his phone once it vibrated again.

 

weed daddy: more importantly you can head back now

weed daddy: were all going to scream at sans when you come in so dont get scared

 

“hey, i think we should head back home,” Red muttered, pocketing the phone away.

“OH?”  
“uh, y-yea it’s getting a little… ch-chilly…?” He suggested nervously. Man, he sure wasn’t very good at keeping a straight face, Red realized. He should probably never play poker if it came to it.

“OH, WELL IF YOU SAY SO.” Blue hummed unsuspectingly, turning to lead the way back home. Red was almost sure that Blue knew he was trying to hide something, but simply played along. And what a saint he was for doing that, honestly. He had no idea how he would’ve explained himself if Blue had actually asked any questions.

“IT’S REALLY NICE TODAY, ISN’T IT?” The chipper skeleton asked eventually, halfway through their way back. Red perked up a little.

“yea, ‘s nice. not as, u-uh, windy,” he replied a little hesitantly.

“WE SHOULD GO ON WALKS LIKE THAT MORE OFTEN.” The other offered happily. “WITH PAPY OF COURSE!!! IT’D BE MORE HEALTHY FOR YOU, TOO.”  
“oh man, i’dunno ‘bout that, i think i’ve had my share of walkin’ for the next year,” Red groaned a little playfully. He didn’t mind the idea too much, though. It _was_ nice out there in Snowdin, and it would be really nice to get to spend some time with the brothers outside their house. Not that Red minded the house, or staying at the house, but he just… He still was too anxious to leave the house alone. And it _wasn’t_ going to get better if he wasn’t going to go out more. And he _wanted_ it to get better, because he was _sick_ of being an anxious wreck all the time.

“WHY ARE THE CURTAINS CLOSED?” Blue wondered once they finally arrived at the house. Red could hear faint voices from inside and wondered if Blue did too and just didn’t mention it.

“’dunno, maybe... pap’s takin’ a nap?” He offered quickly, shifting a little uncomfortably on his spot as he waited for Blue to unlock the door.

“SUCH A LAZYBONES, THAT SOUNDS JUST LIKE HIM!”  
Click.  
Papyrus had warned him that they would all shout when Blue opened the door, so instinctively Red covered his hypothetical ears, bending down a bit as if that would help. Not noticing any of that Blue pushed the door open hardly fast enough before ten or twenty voices called at once,

  
“SURPRISE!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have to write a oneshot at some point about when or why red saved papy as weed daddy in his phone  
> also i had to edit that out bc it didn't work in ao3 but the original name was  
> 


	3. three layers of paper wrapping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as I briefly mentioned in the last chapter, I swapped the rabbit villagers with the canine unit for this swap AU bc idk?? i wasn't sure whether there was an "official" swap for that, and i've seen some people just swap the rabbits with cats, but i liked it like that. for that tho i had to give the rabbits names (i actually dont like making up names for unnamed characters but eh) so imma make a brief list
> 
> (Dog) -swapped with-> (Rabbit) (Name)  
> Dogamy -> Shop Inkeeper (Kit Kat)  
> Dogaressa -> Inn Inkeeper (Milky Way)  
> Greater dog -> That rabbit kid that can't tell what's bothering them (Bounty)  
> Lesser dog -> That rabbit with their little brother on the leash (Snickers)  
> Annoying Dog -> Cinnamon/The little brother  
> Doggo -> Drunk Rabbit (Reeses)
> 
> most of them probably arent going to appear all that much but i wanted that to be out there  
> reeses is my fave

Red wasn’t one for parties. There were even more people than he’d expected and the house seemed full and crowded with people dancing or talking everywhere. If he was being honest, that probably hardly was the case. There weren’t that many people there, and only two or three were dancing: But then again, the house also wasn’t exactly very large, so in the end it was still very crowded.

No one minded that Red stuck to himself, though, at least no one bothered him. The couch was too much in the center of attraction, so he had sat down on the bottom most stair in the corner of the room, hoping he would just meld in with the background and no one would notice him. It seemed to work so far, as no one, except Papyrus to check if he was doing okay, had come up to him.

That was, until Undyne had showed up with two plastic cups of soda in her finned hands. She handed one to Red.

“thanks,” he muttered quietly.

“N-No problem,” she told him, sitting down on the stairs next to him. “Not the p-party kind of gu-guy?”  
Red shook his head no before taking a small sip of the soda. He didn’t like soda a lot, too sweet, but he didn’t want to seem rude and not drink it. He liked Undyne, if he was being honest. She wasn’t as loud and eccentric as so many in this universe. She was smart and careful and sometimes understood what was going on with Red better than Blue or Papy did. She was just a cool person to hang out with when Red needed some time from the brothers.

“M-Me neither,” the scientist mused. Neither of them were very loud people, so their voices easily drowned in the loud chattering and music, barely loud enough for either of them to hear. “B-But I couldn’t m-miss Sans’ birthday.”  
“heh yea,” Red mumbled out as a reply. It was strange to him. So many people made time in their schedule just to celebrate Blue’s birthday. Undyne didn’t even _like_ parties. How many else where there that didn’t actually like parties but came anyway just for Blue? Was that just normal here? Would they do the same for anyone else?  
“H-Hey, when even i-is your birthday?” Undyne asked curiously, causing Red to hunch down in his position a bit more. He hoped he didn’t seem as nervous as he was, but he really felt cornered right now. What was he supposed to say? ‘Surprise, it’s today?’ He couldn’t. He couldn’t invade Blue’s special day like that and, besides, couldn’t explain the others _why_ he hadn’t told anyone.

“heyyy undies, what’cha doin’ with my boyfriend?” Papyrus came stumbling about, obviously already drunk despite it not even being too late into the day yet. He leaned against the wall with one arm and a cup in the other, looming above the two of them. “yer not plannin’ on...uuhhh...”  
“W-We were ju-just talking, don’t worry-y,” Undyne told him, but Red could clearly tell the amusement in her voice. He decided to ignore it.

“hey, didn’t blue tell you not to get drunk,” he accused instead, getting up from the stairs to trade his own cup of soda with the cup in Papyrus’ hands. From the looks of it it seemed to be whiskey. A shot of worry rose inside of Red, not exactly the kind of shot he wanted right now. Papyrus usually didn’t drink stuff as hard, especially not with Blue home.

“eeh, whatevs, a man’s gotta unwind some time,” the taller simply slurred, waving the cup in his hand around a bit.  
“I th-think I’m going to find A-Alphys,” Undyne cut in shyly, getting up from the stairs herself. “I-I’ll talk to you later.”  
Red nodded towards her, thankful to get a moment alone with Papyrus.

“heeeey, tha’s not my whiskey…” The taller slurred once he’d taken a sip from the cup Red had handed him. “where’s th’ good stuff, hn?”  
“hey, papy,” Red muttered, going up a stair to be closer to Papyrus’ height and gently pulling him close by the waist.  
“hmm?”  
“are you alright?” He asked concerned. “it’s unlike you to get drunk like that.”  
“yeeaa, don’ worry red,” Papyrus slurred immediately. “just decided to party a bit. ‘s sans’ birthday after all, doesn’t happen eeeveryday your bro gets born.”

Red glanced at him, trying to find an answer in his eyes. And he did by the way Papyrus almost glanced away anxiously.

“don’t lie.” Red frowned, the words coming out almost a bit too harsh than he wanted to. Papyrus let out a short sigh.

“’m just stressed, is all. red, let’s not talk ‘bout this _now…_ ”  
He wanted to complain more, but as it turns out, luck wouldn’t just help _him_ out of a conversation he didn’t want to have right now but also Papyrus.

“COME ON PAPY, SANS! I’M GONNA START OPENING PRESENTS NOW!!!” Blue called over to them with a little hand motion to tell them to come over. Seeing his getaway, Papyrus reacted immediately, darting towards Blue so fast it almost left Red stumbling off the stairs. After recovering from the almost-fall, Red decided to join them too, grumbling a little under his voice.

He wished Papyrus would talk to him.

“WOWZERS!!! THAT’S SO MANY PRESENTS!” It weren’t, really. It were like five and half of the guests hadn’t brought any presents. But to be fair, a lot of _them_ brought snacks and booze instead. Man, weren’t there kids on the party? Red was pretty sure a good half of the drinks here were alcoholic. At least he didn’t see anyone smoking pot yet.

By the law of a 9 year old that indicated that the bigger the present was the better it was, Blue chose exactly that one. The largest, by far larger than any other there were, aside from one from Papyrus, that Alphys announced was apparently hers through loud whooping noises. And lo-behold, it was the very same flamethrower Red had thought about giving Blueberry himself. He shot Papyrus an amused smirk, the taller looking like he had a bone to pick with Alphys.

Blue let out an excited gasp. “A FLAMETHROWER!? HOW DID YOU KNOW I NEEDED ONE FOR MY NEWEST TRAP?”  
“I don’t know,” Alphys said, a toothy grin on her face. “It sure wasn’t because of the countless of UnderNet posts from you mentioning that!”

“WE JUST MUST BE ON THE EXACT SAME WAVELENGTH THEN, HUH?”

He opened Papyrus’ next, his one’s only being a tad smaller than Alphys’. But as it turns out a good bit from its size came from the three layers of paper wrapping. After getting through the third of it, only to reveal a thick layer of duct tape, Blue let out an exaggerated groan.  
“PAPY ARE YOU SERIOUS???” He asked and Papyrus gave a lazy shrug.

“last year ya said i didn’t put enough effort into the wrapping.” He shot Blue a winning smile and Red wasn’t sure anymore whether to still be upset at him for not talking to him or to be just proud of what a little shit he was being.

“OH MY GOD!” Blue groaned, throwing his arms up exasperatedly. “DOES ANYONE HAVE A KNIFE?”  
“I got this!!!” Alphys bellowed, her toothy grin tense by now, but Blue stopped her.

“DON’T,” he warned, “SUMMON YOUR AXE.”

Alphys rolled her eyes, crossed her arms but grumbled a quiet, “alright, _fine._ ”

It was one of the Rabbit Unit, a short, beige one that Red could tell would order a drink or two more than necessary when off duty, that ended up handing Blue their carrot shaped dagger.

“THANKS REESES.”

He cut through the duct tape easily, opening the large box to reveal….

Nothing. The box was empty.

“PAPY!!!”  
“’eyy, don’t blame me! y’didn’t even check properly,” Papyrus defended himself before Blue could even complain properly. By now the group of guests had split between some of them snickering quietly, while the others were just as annoyed by the shenanigans as Blue seemed. Grumbling, Blue turned back to the box, actually finding a piece of paper on the bottom of it. He didn’t read it out loud, but the writing on it was written with a thick marker and was easily to read from Red’s position.

It said “macaroni art” in big, red letters and a single macaroni glued above it.

Fuming now, Blue stomped his foot to the ground as he sometimes would when he got angry, but Papyrus raised his hands in mock defense.

“i made ye _art,_ bro. do...” He sobbed, obviously fake as there was still a big grin on his face. “do ya _not_ like my art? you’re hurtin’ my feelin’s ‘ere, bro...” Some of the guests where actually laughing out loud now.  
Blue opened his mouth to complain, closed it again. He glanced away angrily, crossing his arms. “I LOVE IT, BROTHER, THANK YOU A LOT. I’M GOING TO PUT IT ON THE FRIDGE.”  
And that’s what made _Red_ laugh. Not as in laughing _at Blue_ , and he sure hoped no one else was either, but he just was surprised. He hadn’t expected him to actually even _pretend_ to like Papyrus’ half-assed gift. Yet here he was, genuinely planning on putting it on the fridge.

Papyrus’ smile was beaming, he pulled Blue into a tight hug, smacking a wet sounding smooch on his forehead.  
“GROSS!! PAPYRUS LET GO OF ME, YOU REEK OF WHISKEY,” the younger brother complained, but he was smiling now, too, as he tried to wiggle out of Papyrus’ grip. The taller let go of him, quickly digging into the pocket of his hoodie before encasing Blue’s hand in his’.

“here ya go, bro,” he said, letting go of his brother’s hand again. Whatever it was he gave Blue this time was much smaller, and Red couldn’t recognize anything beyond a strip of shiny, blue paper. But as it seems the other guests had a better guess, most of them gasping in awe.  
“ARE THOSE TICKETS TO NAPSTATONS CONCERT??? PAPY, THOSE COST A FORTUNE!!! HOW DID YOU AFFORD THAT?”  
Papyrus shrugged nonchalantly, although Red could see the happy pride obvious in his face. “les’ just say i got my ways.”  
That explained… _something_ , if Red was being honest. Papyrus had been working more in the last few months, at least a lot more than when Red first came to their universe. He thought, maybe, that was just his _normal_ working ethic, that when he first came Papyrus had been slacking so Red wouldn’t have to be alone as much. But maybe it wasn’t. Maybe he had been actually working more to save up the money for Blueberry’s present. Maybe that’s why… he had been stressed?  
The rest of the presents were smaller knick-knacks. He got a few new books from Undyne, a space-themed lego set from the monster kid Suzy, which confirmed by the way that there were children on this party, and then the Wii from Red.

“Oh my gosh, is that an _actual_ Wii!?” Undyne blabbered out excitedly the second Blue unwrapped it. Red was surprised by the lack of stutter in her voice.

“WHA-”  
Papyrus burst out laughing. “undy, i asked ya for _stuff_ for the wii!”  
“I _know_ but- I didn’t think you had an _actual_ Wii! I thought you were just building one of your garbage artworks.”  
“wow, offended.”  
“WHAT’S A WII???” Blue asked interrupting the two of them. Honestly, Red had been anxious about this moment. He knew Blue would ask that and heck, he hardly knew what a Wii was _himself_ , plus he had to somehow explain it so that he would also convince Blue to keep it despite it being a video game console. But instead of him it was Undyne who decided to tell him everything about the Wii. And despite her saying it’d be one of the worst consoles ever, Blue seemed to be really enthralled by the idea.

“YOU MEAN I CAN TRICK RED AND PAPY TO MOVE BY TELLING THEM TO PLAY VIDEO GAMES???”  
“I-I mean yea, sort of?”  
“WOWZERS!!! THANK YOU RED, THAT IS SUCH AN INSIGHTFUL GIFT!”

 

Red wasn’t one for parties, but he couldn’t deny that he’s actually had a fairly nice day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **funfact**  
>  i wrote the part with papy's gift in economy class and had to try real hard not to burst out laughing
> 
>  **storytime**  
>  papy's gift was based on two gifts i made myself: the one time I wanted to wrap my friends christmas gift in 5 layers of paper wrapping but my mom didn't allow me so I made it 3 layers of duct tape instead bc said friend once said she likes duct tape a lot and then proceeded to close my package up with duct tape and i hate duct tape so i took my revenge  
> and one time i got this fairly large box (i didnt wrap that one up at all tbh, i just glued a piece of paper on it that said "quality wrapping") and inside the large box was a smaller box and inside the smaller box was a single grape and a note that said "I think you're really grape"


	4. Right now the eerie silence felt less eerie and more… peaceful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this!!! was my fave chapter!!! two important things tho:
> 
> 1\. As I mentioned before (I think???) I'm going to tag most of the things as I update it. That is bc I feel like if I would tag everything already it would be too spoilery and I don't want that. But that also means I might forget to tag it after a chapter or might forget to tag something entirely. So if you ever feel like I should tag something, _please_ do tell me!! Also if you ever feel like I forget to tag stuff too often, especially about heavy stuff that would need some sorta tag as warning and you'd prefer me to tag everything important beforehand, you can tell me too! I don't mind tagging everything at once, I just thought right now it might be smarter if I dont.
> 
> 2\. This fic is gonna have smut!!! Quite a few of you asked for more smut (which is fair. The last one didn't have exactly a lot of smut even tho it was originally meant to be just honeymustard and not 100 pages of messy plot.) I have, so far, 2 important smut chapters planned but I'm probably gonna throw in some random ones when I feel like getting saucy.  
> As some of you might've noticed from the tags, though, this fic is gonna have Cherryberry in it. Not, both smut chapters planned are still Honeymustard. My question is, **do you guys want me to add Cherryberry smut???** I can totally provide. I'm super cool with it, but I'm also super cool with making Blue ace and making their relationship a purely romantic and not sexual one. So yea, guess that's up to you guys. Tell me whatcha want  
>  (Edit: By the way, since I've seen a few comments seemingly suggesting that: Cherryberry (smut) WON'T destroy the Honeymustard relationship at all :>c The Cherryberry is gonna happen one way or another, I'll just see about the smut. Currently tending more to Ace Blueberry)

Despite sleeping so much, Red was a light sleeper. So when he heard footsteps outside of his’ and Papyrus’ shared room, he immediately woke up. He didn’t stir, though. He wasn’t sure whether it was part of his anxiety or just him being lazy, but often when he woke up because of people around him he just pretended to be still asleep.

The door creaked open. Quietly, though, as if whoever was intruding didn’t want to wake anyone up. They didn’t, probably. Red figured it was Blue, because he knew that, no matter how safe this place was, Blue always locked the front door by the end of a day, and people here usually didn’t make the effort to break through locked doors. But why was Blue in his room?  
He got his answer in form of a gloved hand gently shaking him. Red turned around, blinking sleep out of his eyes.  
“….wha-” Quickly, but carefully Blue covered Red’s mouth with a hand, holding a finger up to his own to indicate him to be quiet. He took Red by the hand, pulling him out of bed and quickly throwing a pair of clothes towards him. Confused, but too tired to complain, Red put them on and followed Blue out of the room. The small skeleton picked a backpack up from the ground outside of Red’s and Papyrus’ room, and despite the two of them probably being out of Papyrus’ hearing range if they weren’t talking unnecessarily loud, they didn’t say a word until they were out of the house, Blue quietly closing the front door behind them. He grinned at Red with a giddy smile.

“uh…. what’re we doin’? aren’t we a bit too old to run away?”  
“WE’RE NOT RUNNING AWAY, SILLY!” Blue replied, his voice a tad quieter than usually as to not disturb the quiet night. “I WANTED TO TAKE YOU SOMEWHERE!”  
“aaalright…?” Red drawled still confused, but Blue was already going ahead, dragging Red with him by the hand. “won’t, uh, papy get worried? if he notices we’re gone?”  
“I SENT HIM A TEXT AND LEFT HIM A NOTE IN MY ROOM. PLUS I’VE GOT MY PHONE IF HE ACTUALLY MISSES BOTH.” He took his brightly blue flip phone out to prove it. “HE’S GONNA BE FINE. C’MON, TONIGHT’S ABOUT YOU.”  
“ok, sure.” Red muttered, having a little trouble following up with Red’s speed walking. “but why? if anythin’ shouldn’t it be about you? ‘s your birthday. wait what time is it.”  
“TWO AM. BUT TIME’S UNIMPORTANT. PLUS, IT’S NOT JUST _MY_ BIRTHDAY, ISN’T IT?”  
“what do you…?”  
Blue stopped, causing Red to almost run into him, but he caught him before he could do so, taking both of Red’s hands into his. “GOD YOU GOOBER! WE’RE THE SAME PERSON, DID YOU REALLY THINK I FORGOT THAT???”  
“o-oh…” So at least not everyone had forgotten.

“HONESTLY, I’M A BIT DISAPPOINTED THAT PAPY DIDN’T REALIZE, BUT HE’S LIKE THAT SOMETIMES. A LITTLE DENSE.” Red chuckled at that. “HE DOESN’T MEAN ANY HARM, HE SURELY WOULD’VE THROWN YOU A PARTY TOO, IF HE KNEW IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY.”  
“i- i didn’t want to… intrude...”  
“THAT’S ALRIGHT!!!” Blue told him quickly. “YOU DON’T NEED TO TELL PEOPLE IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY. BUT I FIGURED IT OUT MYSELF AND… I DIDN’T WANT YOU TO BE ENTIRELY FORGOTTEN… WE CAN STILL GO BACK IF YOU PREFER.”

Go back? Back home? Was Blue actually worried Red was upset that he _remembered_ his birthday and cared enough to sneak out of the house with him in the _middle of the night?_

“nah man, no way. you got me curious now you gotta show me what you planned.”  
Blue let go of Red’s hands, clapping his own together excitedly instead. “AWESOME!!! COME ON, WE DON’T HAVE ALL NIGHT!”

He continued to lead Red through Snowdin in a comfortable quiet. It was generally very quiet, Red realized. It made sense, of course, it being the middle of the night and all. But it was… it should be scary. It wasn’t, though. Maybe he _would_ be scared if he’d be alone, but right now Red wasn’t. Right now the eerie silence felt less eerie and more… peaceful. It was nice. Things here were nice.

“you know, i could teleport us if you’d told me where we’re going,” Red mentioned as they both got into the Riverperson’s small boat.

“TO WATERFALL, PLEASE!” Blue told the Riverperson with a big smile, before turning back to Red. “WELL, IF I’D TOLD YOU WHERE WE’RE GOING IT WOULDN’T BE A SURPRISE!”  
Red chuckled, shrugging in defeat. “fair enough,” he replied, wringing his hands together a little nervously. It didn’t happen often that the two of them would be alone. Let alone in the middle of the night, on a boat. It wasn’t something he was used to at _all_ , but it wasn’t something he wanted to miss out on either.

“HAVE YOU EVER CELEBRATED IT BEFORE?” Blue asked eventually, his voice loud over the soft humming of the Riverperson. They didn’t seem to mind at all.

“hm?”  
“YOUR BIRTHDAY I MEAN.”  
“o-oh… uh, yea? when i was younger,” Red muttered awkwardly. He wasn’t used to talking about _those_ parts of his life. The parts that weren’t traumatizing and torturous. The parts that were normal, if not even almost nice. “’t’was a fucking mess, though. people drank like it was the end of the world.”  
“GEE, HOW OLD WERE YOU?”  
“like, fourteen?”

Blue’s eyes widened. “THAT’S NO AGE TO DRINK!!!” He gasped shocked, but Red simply shrugged.

“it wasn’t like we had anyone to tell us not to. honestly, everyone either drank or drugged their brains out if they had the chance to. it was for… survival, man. shit’s tough there. anythin’ to stay above water.”

Blue looked worried, a little sickened even. Almost as if he regretted asking in first place. Well _Red_ sure regretted _telling_ now. Blue probably just wanted to hear some nice childhood stories and Red had ruined the moment with fucking… underage drug use stories. At least he didn’t tell him about the time Red caught the dog pack fucking one of the rabbit kids on his last birthday party.

“THAT’S AWFUL...” Blue muttered, eyelights flickering a bit dimmer than usually. “I’M… I’M SO GLAD YOU’RE HERE NOW, RED. THAT PLACE SOUNDS AWFUL. C-CAN… CAN I HUG YOU?”  
Red blinked at him, before snorting out a surprised laugh. He hadn’t surprised _that_ request. “go ahead, babyblue.” Red laughed, bracing himself for the crushing hug that was about to come.

He was still surprised at how sudden Blue moved, almost making the boat tip a little, but eventually but his arms around the other skeleton to awkwardly pat his back. Or, well, backpack.

“OKAY… OKAY, I’M GOOD,” Blue mumbled, before moving out of the embrace again. He was smiling at Red, but his smile was a little smaller than usually. “THANKS, I NEEDED THAT.”  
“heh, no worries. sorry for ruining the mood, uh...”  
“NO! NO, IT’S OKAY. IT’S OKAY TO TALK ABOUT THINGS LIKE THAT,” Blue quickly told him. “YOU’RE NOT RUINING ANYTHING! IT’S… I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU, RED, ABOUT YOUR PAST. IF YOU WANT TO SHARE IT, THAT IS.”  
Red shifted nervously. “w-why would you...”  
“I DON’T KNOW? I CARE ABOUT YOU AND I LIKE LEARNING THINGS ABOUT YOU. UHM.” Blue scratched his cheek a little and in the dim lightning of the caves of Waterfall, Red was almost certain he could see a faint, bright blue blush on the other skeleton’s face. “A-ANYWAY, I THINK WE’RE ALMOST THERE?”

And he was right. As if on cue the Riverperson stopped the boat at the shore in Watefall, letting the two of them out. Despite never even asking for money, Blue tipped the Riverperson rather generously. He lead Red through the dark caves of Waterfall.

“sooo… you gonna tell me where we’re headin’ to now?”  
“NOPE,” Blue told him with a smile.

“what, scared i’ll tell the cops? we gonna rob a bank or something?”  
“SHH, SANS, DON’T BLOW MY COVER.”  
“w-wait for rea-”  
“NO, OF COURSE NOT!” Blue laughed, surprised Red had actually believed that. “I JUST WANTED TO SHOW YOU A PLACE PAPY AND I USED TO GO TO WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER.”

And he didn’t have to wait much longer either. Blue lead him through a few more caves, taking Red by the hand as to not lose him once the caves got darker. Eventually he stopped in their tracks, spinning around to Red and clapping his hands together.

“WE’RE ALMOST THERE! SANS, ARE YOU READY?”  
“uh, i don’t know…?” Red shrugged with a nervous laugh. He had no idea what to expect.

“WELL TOO BAD, ‘CAUSE I’M ABOUT TO SHOW YOU THE COOLEST PLACE IN WATRFALL!!!” Blue’s enthusiasm was infectious and Red felt giddy excitement build up in his artificial stomach as he was being lead around a corner into the next cave.

It was bright, Red realized quickly. But then, strangely, he realized that it wasn’t. The cave was dark, a thick darkness that left you unable to see more than a few feet in front of yourself. But in the dark, the dim glow of echo flowers lit the bit that wasn’t _entirely_ dark. And, what _really_ caught Red’s attention was, alongside the flowers were small, glowing spots floating through the cave air. Different than the echo flowers, which glow was dim and cold, those spots glowed brightly and yellow. Yet their light still emitted no warmth.

“what… sans what _are_ those?” Red’s voice was barely more than a quiet whisper, too quiet even for any of the echo flowers to pick it up. He watched the spots in awe. They looked like… stars? Not exactly. They didn’t look like _anything_ Red knew, they just looked…  
“IT’S BEAUTIFUL, ISN’T IT?”

“ _yea._ ”  
“PAPY CALLED THEM STARFLAKES,” Blue told him, his voice a little more quiet than usually too. It was as if talking too loud would disturb the starflakes’ peace. “YOU KNOW, LIKE SNOWFLAKES. WE DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT THEY’RE CALLED OR EVEN ARE. BUGS MAYBE?”  
“like fireflies?” Red muttered quietly, trailing the trail of one of the glowing spots with his eyelights. They didn’t _look_ like fireflies, but then again, he’s only ever seen them in Undyne’s anime games.

“MAYBE? I DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT IS.”  
“ah, ‘s not important.”  
He felt a hand placed gently on his shoulder and turned to face Blue. His gaze was intense as he asked,

“DO YOU LIKE IT?”  
Red wasn’t sure why he could suddenly feel his face heat up a little, but he was smiling, _widely._

“sans are you serious!? this is amazing! this place is… _wow_. it’s just… so peaceful.”

He could see an equally big smile grow on Blue’s face. “I’M SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT!!”

Red turned back to watch the starflakes as Blue placed his backpack on the floor, beginning to dig for something in it. Some of the flakes would flow really low, low enough for Red to reach out for them. Quietly, slowly he cupped his palms, clasping them around one of the flakes, trying to catch it. But it glided neatly out of his grasp. Red heard a chuckle behind him.  
“YOU’VE GOT TO DO IT SLOWER, OR THE WIND FROM YOUR MOVEMENT DISTURBS THEM. HERE, TAKE THIS.” He’d apparently gotten a couple of glass jars out of his backpack. They were clean, but you could still see some sticker glue on them on some spots. The lids had small holes pierced into them. He handed one to Red, before opening his own and moving towards one of the starflakes. The way Blue moved the jar over the flake, then closed it up with the lid again made it all look too easy. As if he hardly needed to concentrate at all. Maybe that was the case.

Red tried to copy his movements, holding the jar under one of the flakes, then quickly tried to trap it. The flake easily floated out of danger again. Another chuckle.

“RELAX, RED, YOU’RE DOING IT TOO FAST. HERE, LET ME SHOW YOU.” His doubled moved to his side, wrapping one arm around his back to hold onto Red’s arm, and taking his other hand in his’ too.

“LIKE THIS,” he said, as he slowly began guiding Red’s hands towards one of the starflakes. He moved slow enough that Red almost grew anxious with anticipation, thinking that by this pace the flake would escape for sure. But once the lid hit the jar, the flake was trapped neatly in it. Blue let go of Red’s hands again.

“THERE YOU GO!!”  
“th-thanks...”

He held the jar tightly in both hands, examining the little glowing flake. It seemed brighter in the jar, but that could’ve been light reflecting on and off the glass. Or maybe it was frightened and that was it’s way to show that. But it didn’t look alive, or sentient at least. In fact, the one in Blue’s jar wasn’t even floating anymore, instead lying on the bottom, still illuminating the glass container it was in.

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS?” Red hadn’t realized how close Blue was. He jerked up a little, but recovered quickly.

“not sure. it’s not warm, it doesn’t look like a bug either. maybe it’s spores? of one of the glowing fungus?”  
“OHH THAT COULD BE.” Blue hummed thoughtfully. “IF THEY AREN’T SENTIENT, DO YOU THINK IT WOULD BE FINE TO GET SOME MORE AND TAKE THEM HOME??? THEY WOULD LOOK VERY PRETTY AROUND THE HOUSE.”

Red laughed lightly, he hadn’t expected that question. But he nodded. “yea sure, don’t see why not.”  
“COOLIO!! DO YOU WANT TO HELP ME CATCH SOME MORE THEN?”  
He did. It took Red a few more tries before he managed to properly catch any starflakes on his own, but it was fun. They got as many as they had jars for, before teleporting back home some time around five AM.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR MAKING YOU THINK FOR THREE CHAPTERS THAT RED'S BIRTHDAY WOULD BE JUST FORGOTTEN  
> Also sorry for not answering a lot of the comments that mentioned that, I wanted to, SO BAD, but I didn't know how without spoiling this chapter???
> 
> i hope you liked it because i personally loved it


	5. The king wasn't a kindhearted man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so some of you might've already seen it in the authors note there, but if you haven't:  
> In the Intermission of There's No Path I made a huge continuity error. I accidentally brought Undyne back to life (with her being Papyrus best partner.) In an earlier chapter of the fic, however, I mentioned her to be dead, so that's kinda embarrassing  
> I haven't fixed it yet but I'm gonna once i figure out how, fic canon however is that Undyne is dead  
> I'm mentioning that now bc the fellverse will actually play more of a role here than it did in There's no Path  
> enjoy

It was Sans’ birthday. It had been two months since Papyrus had seen Sans again, just so that he could watch him toss his collar to Papyrus’ feet and run away with a stranger. What was he _thinking?_ That this pathetic mockery of a skeleton could protect him better than Papyrus could? Ridiculous!

They must’ve conditioned Sans. Somehow managed to undo Papyrus’ training and overwrite it with their own. And here he thought his brother possessed _some_ sort of dignity. Some sort of loyalty. Obviously he’s been wrong. Instead this _cur_ ran up to the next best whore he could find.

It was disgusting. Papyrus wasn’t even sure he _wanted_ Sans back like this. Not when he knew a _stranger_ fucked his pet’s pussy. Sans _belonged_ to him. It was up to Papyrus to decide who got to screw his older brother, and this _stranger_ sure wasn’t on the list.

It was Sans birthday and the fact made Papyrus furious. He wasn’t sure why. He hadn’t celebrated his birthdays since they found the dogs raping a screaming girl in Sans’ room. Papyrus never understood. What the dogs did didn’t concern Sans. He had figured back then, that it had been of hygiene reasons.

He had never cared to do or get something for Sans’ birthday. It was a miracle he even _remembered_ the day. Sans had always done… _something_ for him. Made breakfast, got a gift, offered his body. But that’s how it’s _supposed_ to be, right? He was still dominant over Sans after all, there was no reason for _him_ to get his disgusting _pet_ a gift. It was against his standards. It’d just spoil the bastard, and then where would they be?

Maybe the fact that he was _still_ searching for Sans was what made Papyrus so livid. He didn’t quite understand _why_ he was searching. The thought of his brother running around freely, with that bastard none the less, just was unbearable for him. Sans belonged to _him_ and no one else, and if he wasn’t going to be in Papyrus possession, he should at least be dead. And right now that dog was neither of that, and wasn’t _that_ just wrong?

Papyrus clenched his fists. He wasn’t, so to say, out of ideas of where to look. He’d just gone through the most obvious places already, and the rest was… well. The whole damn underground. Specifically, probably, the capital, which was large enough in itself.

He had spent long enough searching through Snowdin and Snowdin forest, asking any of the townspeople whether they’ve seen Sans. They hadn’t, of course. He’s hadn’t had any luck in Waterfall either. Since a lot less monsters lived in the moist caves of Waterfall, it was up to Papyrus alone to clueless search through them. Hotlands had, so far, probably been the worst. Even as the Captain of the Royal Guard, Papyrus has usually never had to patrol further away from his hometown than Waterfall. Or maybe it was the fact _that_ he was Captain that gave him this privilege. He’s never really questioned it much, just appreciated it, because Hotlands was the fucking worst. But he knew Sans never minded it, so even _that_ godawful place was a place he had to search through.

He had no luck, of course. Not in Snowdin, not in Waterfall, not in Hotlands. There were other small locations past the capital, plus there were the ruins he couldn’t enter. Papyrus had already hired a ghost to search through the place for his brother, with a negative result, bu he never fully trusted others anyway. But that was the best he could get, with the door being locked by magic stronger than his’.

For now he’s decided to head back to his home in Snowdin, making at least _some_ sort of plan on where to search next. He didn’t know anything past Hotlands very well, but he had a map and that genius mind of his’, so there should be _some_ way of figuring out a plan.

He had almost reached his house, when a small voice stopped Papyrus in his tracks.

“Captain Papyrus?”  
“WHAT IS IT?” The skeleton spun around, expecting to find the monster behind him. But there was no one.

“Captain Papyrus?” They repeated. “I have a letter from the king for you, Sir.” The voice came from below him. Papyrus leered down, spotting a small Froggit monster. Strange. He’d thought those had gone extinct.  
The small monster reached with one of it’s legs into the abyss, that the skeleton had thought would’ve been some sort of second face, and pulled a golden and red envelope out of it. Papyrus took it… reluctantly.

“The king demands your immediate response. If you wish I can deliver him your word, or you can come and see him within a span of three days.”

Go to the castle at the edge of the capital? That sounded like a great opportunity to search for his good-for-nothing brother there. Besides, Papyrus never liked reading with people around him. He got distracted quickly and couldn’t focus.

“I’LL COME AND TALK TO HIM MYSELF,” the Captain announced and the Froggit monster gave a small bob of it’s head which Papyrus read as a nod. “BEFORE YOU LEAVE, IS THERE ANY CHANCE YOU MIGHT KNOW MY BROTH-… MY PET?”  
“...Sans, Sir?” It asked and Papyrus gave a nod of confirmation.

“HE HAS BEEN MISSING FOR QUITE SOME TIME. YOU MAY NOT HAVE SEEN HIM AROUND PERHAPS?” He would not have admitted it, but hearing the monster knew Sans gave him a pang of hope. Maybe he was at the castle, captured by the kinds guards. Maybe that’s what the letter was about.

“No, Sir, I haven’t.”  
“OH.” And just like that that small hope had been crushed. “FINE. YOU MAY LEAVE NOW.”  
“As you wish,” the Froggit spoke, hopping away. Papyrus played with the thought of killing the monster, just to sate his anger that he was trying to replace his disappointment with. But the monster had been sent by the kind, and if he’d kill one of his direct underlings, Papyrus might get in serious trouble. He headed back home instead.

The house was emptier without Sans, quieter. He should be used to it by now, but honestly, he wasn’t. He just didn’t spend a lot of time there anymore. With his newfound anger for his brother the house… _disgusted_ him. Every spot Sans had been on he connected with him, and after living in this house for years, Sans had been practically everywhere. It made Papyrus’ hypothetical skin crawl.

Ignoring his discomfort, the skeleton sat down on the couch Sans had so often passed out on, and opened the shiny envelope.

It had the kind’s seal, but the handwriting was clean, cursive and curly, so it couldn’t be Asgore’s. That wasn’t too surprising, though. The king most likely had someone to write his letters for him.

Unfortunately for Papyrus, it wasn’t a note letting him know about his brother’s captivity. In fact, past the formalities it didn’t say a lot at all. It said,  
“It has come to King Asgore’s attention that you have been neglecting your duty as a Royal Guard, the Captain none the less. The king demands your attendance by the end of the week. A failure to attend will result in immediate execution.”  
Oh, so he didn’t have a choice on whether to come or not in first place.  
Papyrus had to admit that the letter was not saying a single untruth, and he had no excuses either. He _had_ been neglecting his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard. The thought had occurred him several times, but the search of his brother had… been more demanding at the time. He’d never thought the king would find out about it. Then again, the king knew about almost everything happening in his lands, or so he claims.

Papyrus wasn’t scared. King Asgore wasn’t going to execute him unreasonably, if he’d attend. Papyrus was one of the strongest warriors he had left since the death of Captain Undyne. And the king wasn’t one to carelessly get rid of his underlings, not if they had _some_ sort of use to him. The king wasn’t dumb.

Papyrus just wondered how he was going to manage to continue his search for Sans as well as get back to his duties of the Captain of the Royal Guard. Maybe he could ask the king for assistance, maybe they could send search troops out for his brother. Surely the king would help him try to get his pet back? Sans had been a status symbol, after all, and while Papyrus could just as well keep his reputation up without him, he _couldn’t_ risk this mutt running around freely and possibly ruining what reputation Papyrus had built up. The king surely would understand.

He probably wouldn’t. The king wasn’t a kindhearted man. The king didn’t care about Papyrus’ reputation or status, about his family, health or well being. He just wanted him alive and doing his duty. But Papyrus had to try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a bit shorter, also I can already feel that the fellverse chapters are going to be tough for me  
> they're probably all going to be a lot shorter, so that's that


	6. I like you, son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you haven't noticed yet!! I wrote a oneshot about Red's last birthday party  
> it's [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8561062) but be warned that it's super gross and cruel  
> just read through the tags before reading it and be sure you REALLY want to read it

Papyrus hadn’t been at the capitol or the castle in quite a while. The last time had been for a meeting of the authorities, and those always happened in a large hall in the lesser used parts of the castle, so he’d never seen a lot of it.

With Froggit telling him to come within the next three days and the letter saying he should attend by the end of the week, which would span out for another five days, Papyrus wasn’t sure when to attend. So he decided to take matters in his own hands, taking the first boat to Hotlands the next morning. He’s always cursed the fact that the river the Riverperson used for public transport didn’t go past Hotlands.

The ride with the Riverperson, though, never was a fun one. With their style of dressing, the eerie silence and the dark caves, it always reminded Papyrus of that one human myth of the ferryman carrying the souls of the dead. Every time felt like it’d be the last time he’d be able to take the boat, and honestly? It just reminded him that, if he wasn’t going to be careful, it might as well be.

But he arrived at the castle before noon, alive and in one piece. The guards told him that the king wasn’t ready for him yet, but Papyrus had expected as much. He was told to be back by evening.

Papyrus didn’t mind the wait for once. It gave him a chance to search through the palace for Sans. He’d searched the public spaces first, asking any passerby’s if they’d possibly seen him around. Unfortunately there were far more locked rooms than accessible ones, which made the search end rather unsatisfying.

At some point Papyrus had visited the prison cells. He was surprised that those were accessible by public, but quickly remembered that this served to scare possible troublemakers, if they came to visit the palace. The _real_ threats were kept captive in a high-security prison in Hotlands anyway, if not immediately executed.

He had hoped, maybe, that Sans would be there after all. His brother was sort of a troublemaker and, while he never committed any real bad crime, he had the tendency to piss authorities off to no end. If it wouldn’t’ve been for Papyrus, he would’ve surely gotten arrested by now, if not even killed. But Sans wasn’t there, neither had any of the captives that were willing to talk, seen him.

It wasn’t quite evening yet when Papyrus finished his search, but the guard told him the king was willing to see him now, if Papyrus was ready. He was, of course, so soon he was being lead towards a room which Papyrus quickly realized must’ve been the throne room. He had heard of the room that used to be covered in golden flowers, until the king burnt them all in a fit of anger over his son’s death. While he’s never seen the flowerbed himself, the moment Papyrus entered the room, he felt like something was missing.

“Captain Papyrus.” Judging by his collected and regal tone, the king had obviously been awaiting him. There was a tray next to his throne, a can and a small cup of steaming tea on it. A second cup of tea was lying in Asgore’s large claws.

“YOUR HIGHNESS.” Papyrus knelt before his king, eyes fixed to the ground. He didn’t look up until Asgore spoke again.

“Why don’t you have a cup of tea?” The king sing-sang. “It’s my favorite. Golden Flower tea.”  
“I COULDN’T.”  
“Oh, I insist, Captain.” Giving in, Papyrus nodded, carefully walking up to the tray and picking up the cup. He knew better than to anger the king.

“I believe you know why I’ve called you here, Captain?”  
Papyrus nodded respectfully. “I DO, YOUR HIGHNESS.”  
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“MY BROTHER HAS BEEN MISSING, SIRE,” Papyrus tried to explain, thinking of a way to twist his sick obsession with his brother’s disappearance to his advantage. “I BELIEVE YOU KNOW MY BROTHER? I AM WORRIED HE MIGHT CAUSE TROUBLE. I WAS SEARCHING FOR HIM, SIRE.”

The king raised a brow. “And that is more important than your Royal Guard duties?”  
Yes. He _had_ to get his brother back from that bastard as long as he was still alive.

“I TAKE IT YOU WON’T ACCEPT A ‘YES’ AS AN ANSWER.”

Instead of replying, King Asgore took a long sip of his tea, watching Papyrus intensively as he did so. He wasn’t scared, the Great and Terrible Papyrus is never scared. But being in a position like this still made him uncomfortably tense.

The king lead the cup away from his lips again and sighed.

“I like you, son. I didn’t choose you as the Captain of my Guard for no reason.”  
“YOU CHOSE ME BECAUSE I TOOK OUT THE PREVIOUS ONE,” Papyrus cut in carefully. Asgore’s gentle smile twitched.  
“To prove your worth, son. Do you think I’d announce just anyone that dares to kill my men as Captain?” His voice edged on anger, but was not yet aggressive. “No, of course not. Anyone else would’ve gotten executed on the spot.”  
“YOU’RE RIGHT, YOUR MAJESTY,” Papyrus resigned, lowering his head a little. “I AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR MERCY BACK THEN.”  
“Oh Papyrus, that was so long ago,” Asgore hummed, his voice gentle and sweet again, to sweet for it to mean anything good. “Come here, my son. Don’t be shy.” Papyrus realized scarily, as he stepped closer to his king for him to put his large, clawed hand on the Captain’s shoulder, that he was for the first time alone with him in a room. He didn’t have to see the king very often, aside from the monthly meetings in which they were always accompanied by a handful of guards as well as the Royal Scientist.

“You’re an impressive warrior, Papyrus, easily my best.” Asgore was running one of his fingers in gentle circles over Papyrus’ shoulder blades, causing the skeleton to almost shake with discomfort. “It’d be a shame to remove you from your position. I doubt I’d be able to find a good replacement.”  
“THEN DON’T. REMOVE ME,” Papyrus suggested carefully, ignoring the gentle touches of his king at best. He just had to wait for this to be over, nothing’ll happen. That was his _king_ after all.

“You’re of no use for me if you don’t fulfill your duties. Tell me, Captain. Will you get back to them?”  
Papyrus paused, playing in his head with the possible answers he could give and their outcomes. In the end, he decided, the king was going to have an eye on him anyway, he might as well be honest and hope king Asgore liked him enough to show his mercy once more. Maybe if it came to it, Papyrus could even hope to take him out. One reason why the king always had guards around was because not even he was invincible, unbeatable.

“NOT UNTIL I FIND MY BROTHER, SIRE. I CANNOT HAVE THAT… _MONGREL_ RUNNING AROUND FREELY.”  
The king sure knew how to build tension up, as he quietly closed his eyes as if thinking over his words, the paw never ceasing to circle on Papyrus’ back, only growing tense now.

“You care about him too much,” he said eventually, sounding almost regretful. “I know what that’s like too much, believe me.”  
If Papyrus had any hair, he could probably feel it bristle at the accusation. Suddenly he jerked away from his king’s touch, startling the large boss monster in the process.

“I MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT!” He shot back with a tone that would’ve most certainly cost him his life, if the king wouldn’t seem strangely amused by this.

“You don’t, huh?”  
“FOR ALL I CARE THIS MUTT CAN BE DEAD! I SIMPLY CANNOT STAND THE THOUGHT OF HIM DYING WHILE BEING IN POSSESSION OF ANYONE BUT ME!”  
King Asgore raised a brow curiously. “So he’s been taken away from you.”  
“HE HAS.”

Papyrus would’ve almost hoped to finally get some understanding of his thinking from the king. But the nasty grin etched on his face proved him otherwise. It was, though, as if he wanted to hide his delight, his smile soon changing back to is regal visage.

“I never liked your brother, you know that? He always seemed like a hindrance to you.” Papyrus didn’t answer, grinding his teeth as _he_ started to get angered. “I never understood why you kept him on you. It couldn’t have been just as a status symbol, could it? You’re the _Captain of the Royal Guard,_ after all. You don’t need someone like him to prove other’s your worth.”  
He wasn’t wrong, honestly. There _was_ more to it. Status symbol was nice and all, but there had also been a sense of… loyalty. Despite how useless he was, Sans had always been loyal to him before, and Papyrus felt as if he’d do him wrong if he just killed or abandoned him like that. But that was then, and now… he just wanted to get his hands on him again.

“I give you an option, Papyrus.” The king’s deep voice told him. He got up, sauntering slowly towards the skeleton until he was towering above him. “You give up on your brother and I’ll let you keep your position. I’ll even let you… stay in the castle with me.”  
Papyrus eyes widened. He frowned. “WHY?” He asked shockingly demanding. “WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVE?”  
“Why, can’t I simply offer my favorite soldier an opportunity like this?” Papyrus didn’t reply, distrust very apparent in his eyes. The king resigned with a frown. “It gets lonely with the absence of the queen. I was just hoping you wouldn’t mind giving me some company. So?”  
Papyrus flinched back when he felt a hand on his shoulder, magic forming into a bone in his hand.

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!” He snapped, almost expecting the king to step after him, for himself on him, like Papyrus knew he would’ve done himself, if he would’ve been in king Asgore’s position. Instead the large monster just frowned.

“Suit yourself,” he spoke. “You are disbanded from your rank as Captain and from the ranks of the Royal Guard entirely, effective from now.”  
“YOUR MAJESTY-”  
“You are lucky I am letting you live. ...Again. You may leave now.”  
Papyrus stared at the king in disbelieve and anger, but eventually hung his head. “YES, YOUR MAJESTY,” he said, before leaving the throne room.

He couldn’t deny, he’d gotten out of this lucky. That this whole scenario could’ve ended worse. But he’d lost his rank as Captain. As Captain! All he’d worked for and done to get there was for naught and it was all Sans’ damn fault.

He was going to kill that mangy mutt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wasn't sure if i should add some tags for this chapter or not? if there's anything worth tagging pls do tell me
> 
>  
> 
> this chapter was weird and 80% happened by accident, but i do like it


	7. HAVE YOU DONE THE SEXY, YET?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the super late update?? i got stuck at one point and im the kind of person that completely abandons fics if they get stuck at one point bc i rather never touch it again rather than GET THROUGH WITH THAT ONE THING, but i dragged myself out of my grave and rewrote half of the chapter (i still dont like the OTHER half but im just glad i fucking got SOMETHING done)  
> so enjoy ur to 50% super old and rly bad chapter

“ **red holy fuck!** ”

R ed almost jumped out of his seat on the couch as Papyrus practically kicked the door in shouting. Before he could do even as much as open his jaw to reply, Blue already, without missing a beat, answered in lieu of him.

“WHAT IS IT, HONEY?” He called from the kitchen, putting on a fake ‘Red’ voice. Despite the two of them being practically the same person with the same voice, aside from a different pitch, the impression wasn’t very good and Red burst out laughing almost immediately. His laughter only increased when he saw the loss on Papyrus’ face and the delight on Blue’s as he peeked out of the kitchen.

“nice one, sans,” Red quipped. Blue gave him a winning grin, a pair of gunhands, before disappearing into the kitchen again to finish cooking dinner.

R ed got up from the couch as Papyrus finally came up to him, wrapping his arms around the taller’s waist. He was a bit later from work than usually, which didn’t worry Red per se, but made him wonder what kept him.

“hey,” he breathed, a little more sappy, a little more desperate than necessary, than he maybe was comfortable with showing, but he felt safer with Papyrus around.

“hey babe. how are you?”  
“mhhn, tired. just woke up a bit ago.” And only because after waking him for the fourth time, Blue wouldn’t leave the room until Red finally actually got up. If he was being honest, today just wasn’t his day and he’d felt sort of shitty since the moment he’d been woken up, but when didn’t he? There was no point in bothering others with that, really. “what about you? almost kicked the door in there, big boy.”  
“hm? oh right!” Papyrus sounded as if he didn’t seem to know what Red meant at first, but then lightened up a bit. He quickly swooped Red off the ground, like he sometimes would to avoid having to bend down, holding the smaller skeleton close, their faces at same height now. “you should’ve told me it was your birthday, red.”  
“o-oh...” So he’d found out. About a week late, but… Papyrus found out about his birthday. Found out he’d been hiding it. “i-i’m sorry...”  
“you better be! been feelin’ like a major ass since i found out i forgot my own boyfriend’s birthday. even sans remembered!”  
“w-wha-”  
“at least that’s why you went on that midnight date the other day, wasn’t it?”

Red’s face flushed at the statement, a tightening anxiety building behind his ribs, almost as if he’d gotten caught doing something wrong.

“i-i didn’t-! it wasn’t a date!” He grunted, a little aggressive, defensive.

“IT WASN’T???” Blue asked from the kitchen, obviously joking from the tone of his voice. But it wasn’t obvious to Red’s anxiety, when would it ever be?  
“i-i-”  
“SORRY! SORRY, JUST TEASING,” Blue added quickly, humor still lying in his voice, but softer now. He was peeking out of the kitchen again, a hint of worry in his eyes.  
Red let out a small distressed noise as Papyrus chuckled softly, placing a kiss on his forehead. Sap.

“sorry, i know it wasn’t a date of course. ‘m just messin’ with ya,” he hummed against Red’s bones. The smaller replied with a grunt. “really, though, i should’ve known it was your birthday. i’m sorry man.”

“nah, ‘s fine really,” Red muttered, shaking his head. “didn’t wanna celebrate anyway. bad experience.” And that was sort of an understatement.

“still. should’ve at least gotten you something. He insisted. Thoughtfully Papyrus began drumming his fingers on Red’s back, before his eyes lit up in an idea. “hey, how’s about it? i’ll take you out for dinner to make up for it.”

Red grunted out a laugh. “what? where? to grillby’s?”  
Papyrus slumped a little as he realized his error. Their options in restaurants to choose from weren’t exactly the best. They could go to the resort in Hotlands, of course, but Red had heard from Blue that it was sinfully expensive and nearly impossible to get a reservation there.

“YOU COULD MAKE A FANCY EVENING HERE,” Blue offered from the kitchen eventually, when no one else seemed to come up with a different idea. “I CAN ASK ALPHYS IF I CAN STAY WITH HER FOR THE NIGHT, I’M SURE IT’S NO PROBLEM.”  
“that’s a great idea!” Papyrus spoke, finally letting Red down on the couch again. He sat down next to him. “what’d’you say, red? romantic evening, just the two of us?”  
Red flushed a little as the word romantic fell, throwing an angry glance towards the kitchen from where a small chuckle came. As if Blue could see him from even there. But the thought of an evening for themselves was actually sort of nice. It didn’t happen often that Blue would actually be out of the house the whole night.

“sure…,” he eventually muttered out a reply. “don’t see why not. don’t wanna kick sans out, though, you sure that’ll be fine?”  
“DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT! I’VE ALREADY TEXTED ALPHYS, SHE SAID I CAN SLEEP OVER.”

So, he figured that was settled. Since Papyrus said he had to work longer the next day, and Alphys said it’d work better for her today too, they decided to have their ‘romantic evening’ right away. Blue stayed for lunch tacos, of course, they couldn’t _immediately_ kick him out, especially not if it’d been _him_ who’d actually cooked lunch for them. But he started packing a couple of necessities almost immediately after, leaving once he was ready. With a lot of winks and innuendos, that is.

By the time they were alone, the two of them were huddled up on the couch, watching a sappy romance anime called Clannad that Undyne had recommended them. She’d said she’d cried at least twice. Red and Papyrus were having a bet on how laughable the anime would be. Papyrus said very, Red said extremely.

Jokes on them, though, because the anime was actually genuinely funny and they found themselves enjoying it. Somewhat. It was still ridiculously sappy.

Sometime during episode four Red noticed his phone vibrating. He took a peek.

 

babyblue: SO?  
  
babyblue: HOW’S IT GOING? MADE THE MOVES YET?  
  
red: blue wtf were already dating

red: i dont have to make any moves

babyblue: BUT HAVE YOU DONE THE SEXY, YET?

babyblue: THE BOW-CHICA-BOW-WOW?

babyblue: YOU CAN TELL ME, I WON’T JUDGE ;)

 

Red flushed at the text, quickly putting his phone away again, as if fearing someone would see their texts. Truth be told, Red had hoped that the evening would, well, lead there eventually. But so far it had always really been Papyrus who would initiate it. Red hadn’t really… Red still wasn’t really used to the fact yet, that sex was a thing he had a say in. He sort of got the hang of saying ‘no’ if he didn’t want to do a thing, even if sometimes it may or may not be in form of a panic attack. But saying, telling him that he _wanted_ to do things was just… a whole ‘nother story. He would, maybe, hint on it sometimes, but also only if Papyrus had done so, too, first and Red knew they were gonna be on the same page.

Right now, though, neither present had hinted on anything and Red hadn’t even been sure it was appropriate to ask for something like that. What if it wasn’t? What if Papyrus didn’t want it? Would he think of Red as gross? Would he think Red was trying to force himself on the other?  
Probably not, if he was gonna answer himself rationally, but his anxiety didn’t exactly quiet down.

Red made a surprised noise as he felt Papyrus squeezing him a tad tighter, catching Red’s attention.

“’s everything ok? you looked distracted,” the tall skeleton muttered, looking a tad concerned, but even more sleepy.

“yea, i’m alright,” Red replied, shifting a little nervously. _Should_ he make the moves, as Blue had called it? How would he even…? “anime’s just gettin’ a bit boring.”

“yea, i think if i’ll watch one more episode i’ll be _loafing_ anime for the rest of the week,” Papyrus agreed, grinning widely at the screen as one character was presenting their freshly baked loaf of bread. Red rolled his eyes. “really, though, you’re right. anythin’ you had in mind?”

"uhm..." Red began fidgeting, unsure of what to say. Suddenly he wanted to text Blue. Really badly. Ask him for advice or something, but he couldn't very well with Papyrus looking at him, arm around his shoulders. The skeleton laughed, sounding a little embarrassed.

"sorry, i know. should've been me coming up with today's plan, heh."

Red opened his mouth, caught between agreeing with him and trying to tell him it was ok, really, it had been very sudden and impromptu after all. Instead came out nothing and Papyrus started to look a little worried. Red quickly caught his voice again.

"uh," was all that came out. Followed by a stuttered, "w-well, we could... maybe... i don't know..." He coughed into his fist glancing away. "blue isn't here and... maybe... if it's okay with you-"

"babe." Red jumped a little at his voice, letting out an absolutely pathetic squeak. Papyrus gathered the smaller skeleton up with his arms, pulling him on his lap so Red was straddling him. "you know i won't judge you, right? no matter what you would ask for?"

 _No_. Honestly, no, Red _didn't_ know that, or rather he didn't entirely _trust_ in that, but he nodded anyways. Papyrus kissed him in reply, a bit too long for it to have been without any more intention behind, but too short for Red's likes.

"go ahead. ask me," he said, with a small grin. Red huffed.

"you know what i was getting at," he mumbled, hearing Papyrus chuckle.

"i wanna hear you say it."

"you're an ass."

"c'mon babe," the taller said with a wink. "'m just tryin' to help ya. this kinda thing ain't gonna get easy if i always save you from it."

Well, there _was_ some truth to it, wasn't there? Papyrus was still being an asshole, intentionally, so maybe Red pouted a little when he buried his face into the nape of Papyrus' neck, _at least_ not wanting to have to look him in the eyes as he said,

"i wanna have sex with you."

Like expected Papyrus began laughing, Red shaking with him as he did so. But he couldn't help but to laugh with him.

"stop bein' an ass!" He complained with a grin, feeling Papyrus press a kiss against the side of his skull.

"sorry, babe," he chuckled. "you're just makin' it sound so cute."

"what else was i supposed to say!?" Red retorted. "that i want you to wreck my ass? or maybe that your brother is expecting us to fuck? which, by the way, he does. he texted me."

"no!" Papyrus almost screaming, laughing even more now. "oh god no, why would he _text_ you about that!?"

"i don't know, you tell me!" Red laughed back at him. "he's _your_ brother!"

They both shook in laughter for another ten minutes, Red’s chest hurting eventually, but really. This was the opposite of a problem so far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> meds need to taste bad bc if they dont im eternally suffering with the need of wanting to just eat that pill like a regular candy and just enjoy its taste


	8. next thing you’ll know you’re going down on him after five shots of tequila and-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im super sorry this took so long and this chapter is kind of a mess ugghhh  
> it was just SO hard getting into it  
> i rly hope i'll be having less of a hard time writing this god-forsaken fic i love so much soon
> 
> **NSFW Content in this chapter**

They were still chuckling when Papyrus decided to carry the other upstairs to their room, leaving a trail of pecks and kisses along the smaller skeletons collarbone.

“’e’s a real… something,” Red chuckled as he was being put gently on the mattress.

“hm?”  
“your bro,” he clarified. “he’s a treasure.”  
“yea? glad you agree,” Papyrus replied, pushing the blanket out of the way. “he’s the greatest.”  
Red hummed in agreement, giving Papyrus a hard time moving the blankets by sitting on top of them. “y’know, you might just almost make it second place.”  
“really now?” The taller inquired, raising a brow curiously. “who am i competing with? for second, that is.”  
Red thought about it for a moment, before deciding, “muffet’s pretty cool. think she stole my money once when i wasn’t looking.”  
“yea she does that,” Papyrus mumbled back, finally managing to pry the blanket out from underneath the other. “i think so, at least. no one’s actually ever caught her. gotta admit, though, you’re-” He began scooting closer to his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around his middle. “you’re pretty great, too.”  
“mh, i ‘dunno,” the smaller muttered quietly. For a moment Papyrus waited, hoping for him to finish with some sort of comeback or punchline. But it seemed like Red was just planning to leave it like that and Papyrus sighed a little, pressing his teeth against the other’s cheek.

“don’t be like that,” he hummed, listening to Red’s content noises as his teeth grazed over his jawline, then neck. “you’re amazing, easily second place in my book. right after my bro.”  
“glad that we – ah – can still talk ‘bout your babybro-” Red gasped a little when he felt Papyrus’ tongue on his vertebrae. “w-when about to, uh...”  
Papyrus pulled back, shoving Red gently as he fixed him with a fake, playful frown. “geez, way to make it weird. i was just starting to enjoy myself!”  
Red snorted. “you’re one to talk! _you’re_ the one thinkin’ ‘bout his bro while getting at it, weirdo!”

Papyrus flushed, but chuckled nonetheless. “shut up jerk, it’s not like that.”  
“mh, they all say that, but next thing you’ll know you’re going down on him after five shots of tequila and-” He stopped himself as he watched Paprus’ smile turn a little forced. Chuckling awkwardly Red tried to ignore the flash of anxiety building up. “sorry got… carried away, heh.”  
Papyrus laughed equally awkwardly, a hint of worry in his voice when he asked, “you’re, uh… not talkin’ out of experience, are ya?”  
Red… took a moment to process the question. Then barked out a laugh, an actual laugh, loud and surprised and there were tears gathering in his eyes.

“ _no!_ ” He gasped out still laughing, he could hear Papyrus laugh too. “oh my god! no, nah. ‘s just… thing we say back where i’m from? y’know like...” He made a small circling motion with his hands, hoping the explanation would just come by itself, but then continued. “like ‘that’s what they all say, and then they’re pregnant.’ never heard that one?” He quirked a brow at Papyrus, the latter shaking his head.

“sorry pal. sounds wild, though,” he laughed, slowly, smoothly starting to move his hands back on Red. The latter did his absolute best to will himself to relax again, as he leaned a little into Papyrus’ touches. He wrapped his arms around the taller’s neck, pulling him close into a kiss. A knee pushed into his crotch and Red began grinding against it the tiniest little bit as magic began to form itself.

Ever since the last time, Papyrus had never asked him to form any kind of... entrance again. Neither ass nor vag, and Red was more than glad about that. He _knew_ it shouldn’t make a difference, but Red felt safer, less vulnerable with a cock.

He _also_ knew, though, that Papyrus _had_ wanted him to form an entrance. That frotting and hand- or blowjobs just weren’t… exactly the peak. There was a reason boss always wanted him to form a cunt, that most of his clients wanted a hole, too.

But… _Papyrus_ wasn’t boss. Papyrus wasn’t a client, a stranger, a rapist. He was his boyfriend, he could trust him, _did_ trust him mostly, so it… really wasn’t fair to keep something like that from him.

Red moaned into the kiss a little when he felt one of Papyrus’ hands moving down his shorts, his own hands finding their way underneath Papyrus’ hoodie. He could feel a feather light brush of fingertips against his conjured mound, before said fingers jolted away hastily, almost as if touched something burning hot. Papyrus pulled off the kiss, looking flushed, worried, confused.

“red…?” He whispered, his hand still hovering in the smaller’s shorts, scared to touch anything.

“’s’ok,” Red said, hoping the other couldn’t hear the hesitation in his voice. “i, uh… i want this.” He really did not. He _did,_ but he was nervous, anxious, terrified almost. But he didn’t want to be scared anymore. For Papyrus, but also for himself. He hated having to be babied all the time, he hated feeling like every smallest thing could _break him._

Papyrus didn’t seem to fully believe him, brow furrowing as he said, “you don’t have to do this, red. for me, i mean. i don’t want you to force yourself to anything you’re not ok with.”  
Red took a shaky breath, hands moving to hold onto Papyrus’ bare back. The long fingers still in his shorts, unmoving, _untouching,_ filled him with so much nervous energy, he just wanted _something_ to happen.

“i d-don’t wanna be scared anymore,” he breathed out, struggling to keep himself from just crawling away. “can we just… try this, please?”  
Papyrus didn’t reply at first, looking at Red as if searching for something. Whether he found it or not, though, he started moving his fingers towards Red’s mound again, gently stroking over the clit. Red sucked in a sharp breath.

“you’ll tell me if you need me to stop, right?” Papyrus asked and Red forced out a nod as he bit on his summoned tongue. “you ok?” Letting out a pathetic whine, Red willed himself to relax, giving another curt nod.

This was fine, he reminded himself. He was safe, he was okay, he had nothing to be scared of. A thumb flicked across his clit again, two fingers gently stroking along his slit, and arousal was finally beginning to blossom up again. Sans bit back a quiet moan.

“stars, do you realize how brave you actually are?” The taller hummed, leaning close to Red’s face. The latter chuckled a bit perplexed.

“you’ve never even seen me fight or anythin’,” he argued, only for Papyrus to shake his head.

“’s not what i meant. red, if _you_ wouldn’t’ve said anything, i would’ve just pampered you till the day i die. i just want you to feel comfortable.”  
“would’ve been a bother...”  
“it would have _not_ ,” Papyrus disagreed mocking sternness, but Red could feel his teeth etching into a soft smile close to the smaller’s skull. “and even if, i would do it anyways.”  
“’s not what…-” Red sucked in a breath, feeling his partners fingers slide over his slit carefully, slowly starting to collect the wetness from Red’s cunt. “ _sstars._ i don’t, uh- hah- d-don’t _wanna_ be scared all the time, though. don’t wanna be treated like made out of porcelain.”  
“ _exactly_ ,” the taller replied, his fingers prodding gently against Red’s entrance. “but _you_ made that decision by _yourself_ and… that’s _so brave._ ”  
Red really, _really_ couldn’t follow him right now. Whether it was because of the fingers working his zone, or because he just didn’t make any sense was beyond Red. He just knew that _this_ shouldn’t be a big deal and Red shouldn’t be as scared and nervous in first place, so why, _why_ would it be brave if he just slowly attempted to function like a regular monster. It didn’t even completely work _out_ yet.

Papyrus gently tugged down Red’s pants. "is it ok if i, uh..." Two fingers circled around Red's entrance, having the small skeleton gasp. "if i push 'em in?"

No, god no. " _yea_ ," Red breathed through grit teeth. "yea, go ahead."

Papyrus nodded, looking weirdly focused as he leaned down to kiss the side of Red's skull. One of the two fingers started gently slipping into his entrance and-

And this was fine? Papyrus was skill kissing Red, worked his way down to the smaller’s neck, and the finger inside of him didn't hurt, hardly even felt uncomfortable. He gently, slowly pumped it in and out of Red's cunt, getting the small skeleton adjusted to the feeling again.

"y-you can add another," Red muttered, feeling Papyrus hum into his neck.

"if you say so," the taller purred, inserting the second finger now.

Okay, this was still fine. He was pretty wet by now, Red realized, something hardly anyone had ever given a shit about before, and the pace was slow, almost too slow. It didn't hurt when Papyrus eventually scissored them and Red let out a surprised moan, feeling the skeleton on top of him shiver at the noise.

" _christ_ , i love the noises you make," he groaned, his voice practically dripping with arousal. "red, can i- can i fuck you red?" There was more than a hint of worry in that question.

"go ahead," Red said, trying to sound as confident as he could, but it didn't look like Papyrus bought it at all. "i'll be fine, just- ah- m-maybe go slow..."

"okay," the taller breathed, giving Red a brief kiss. "yell stop if you need me to."

Red nodded in reply and soon felt the two fingers leaving his hole. He watched as Papyrus undid his pants.

He knew it was anxiety. He knew he was being irrational and it was anxiety screaming in his head, he'd had sexual encounters with Papyrus before. He'd seen his cock. Yet as he gazed upon his partners dick he just...

He couldn't remember it being _so big_.

It wasn't even the biggest dick he's taken, god. The dogs were the worst, the dogs always were the worst, but there'd been monsters here and there too, that boss sold him to that had dicks far too big and thick for Red to even remember, _yet_...

Yet he looked at Papyrus dick and thought, there was no way this wasn't gonna hurt.

He hardly whimpered when he felt the tip at his entrance. Only flinched a little when he felt it moving in. He couldn't make a noise. He couldn't cry or yelp.

 _He’d get_ _punished_ _if_ _he did_.

It, technically, didn't even hurt when Papyrus pushed it in, but Red was already beyond noticing that. All he noticed was that he was _filled_ suddenly, god, he was so _full_ and he had _no_ idea what was gonna happen next, what would they _do_ to him? Were they gonna start hooking poison barbs into his walls, were they gonna knot him for minutes, hours that felt like _years_?

No, but this was Papyrus, Red reminded himself like a mantra. This was Papyrus, Papyrus, Papyrus, his brother Papyrus? His boss? Yea, all _he_ would do was tear his cunt up with those spikes of his, all _he_ would do was beat him till he bled from the inside, strangle him, hardly keeping him conscious.

Despite everything, Red screamed.

He screamed in absolute terror and he couldn’t make out the words the skeleton above him said, but he just _knew_ boss was screaming at him, of course he was, Red wasn’t allowed to freak out like that and _usually_ he didn’t. He hadn’t panicked like that in _years,_ so why now? What was different except-

Except that it _wasn’t_ boss, Red remembered absently. Oh god, it _wasn’t_ boss, he wasn’t _there_ anymore. It was Papyrus and he was freaking out. He dissolved his dick almost immediately, which might have not been the best idea because it left Red’s cunt empty way too fast to adjust and, well, it didn’t hurt or anything, but felt wrong and weird and uncomfortable. Red rolled to his side, fetal position, and let out a sob.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 


End file.
